Marks
Four pairs of red eyes stare at Eric and I. He stands slightly in front of me at the entrance to the room but holds my hand. The vampires stare at us, moving their sight from him, to me, to our hands. They stare at Eric because he stands slightly in front of me, in a protective state, growling at them. They stare at me because blood left from the wound covers my clothes. But mostly they stare at our hands, interlocked together.
Eric pulls a white vest over his bare chest and then puts on a black leather jacket.
"Eric?" the female questions him, as if she doesn't recognize the beautiful man in front of her.
"Ronnie," he turns back to me, "this is Sienna," he begins, pointing at the woman, "this is Jeremy, Noah…" he says, introducing me to the next two men. He then pauses. The last vampire he hasn't named is the one who had wanted to kill me last night.
"This is Isaac."
The last gives me a wry smile, whilst the others scan me up and down, and then turn back to their conversations. Sienna is an older female, who looks around 30. Her hair is cut short and blonde, contrasting with her tall built. Jeremy and Noah could be twins. They both have short brown hair, and are both tall and well built. Their glares at me last night remind me they are not to be messed with.
Isaac does not join them, as instead he steps forwards to meet me. Isaac wears a dark green shirt and dark jeans. His deep red eyes contrast with his pale skin, and his reddish-ginger hair do too.
He looks at me carefully, pausing too long by the splodges of blood on my sweater. Out of those in the room, he is the one I most worry about. He doesn't seem to accept Eric's rules and I worry about being left with him. He wants my blood, and I've met vampires who would do anything for blood. They're mean and they're strong. I grab Eric's hand firmer and he reassures me by putting the other around my waist. He pulls me towards him and I relax in his arms. He promised to protect me.
Isaac grabs my arm harshly, making a possessive growl slip from Eric's mouth. The pale vampire chuckles and then leans in closer to my ear, hissing each of his deadly words.
"Even if you escape with your friends tonight," he says, "remember that we are vampires, and I especially will hunt you and," he pauses as he moves his hand onto my waist, "your lovely scent wherever you go."
"Enough!" Eric barks. The other three vampires still, turning round to admire the situation.
Respectively, Isaac snaps back, giving me one last dark smile before he turns back to the others. I gulp and irregularly take in air, as I reflect that I, and my friends and family will never be safe.
Eric puts a soft hand on my back, relaxing me. He grabs both my hands with one of his, and pulls me towards a sofa. He sits, and pulls me down beside me.
"I've been with them for over 100 years," he whispers in my ear; "I won't let them go after you." He kisses my cheek, and puts an arm around me so that I pull closer to him. I lean in and rest my head on his chest and I mentally relax. "Don't worry about Isaac; he's young and vicious," he says, and I can feel his smile against my hair.
Isaac turns around at the mention of his name, his eyes widening when he sees me nestled against Eric but does not speak further. They all whisper quietly among them, too quietly for me to here, but their unsubtle glances over to us every once in a while inform me they talk about us. About me. I close my eyes in a bid to forget them.
When I open them again, a figure catches my eyes and I turn to see that it is the human I had seen earlier in the day. I pluck the courage to ask Eric about him.
"Can I ask you something?" I murmur, looking up at him. For a second he's looking away, looking at the human but at the sound of my voice he looks down at me.
"Sure, anything," he smiles.
"Well... I was just wondering why you keep him here."
"I told you," he says, pointing it out as if it's the most obvious fact in the world. "He's our protection during the daylight. He alerts us if any of your kind," he says, bending down to kiss me lightly on my hair and making me giggle, "comes in here."
"Oh," I say. I see. I remember what Isaac said last night, about him being another pool of blood.
I look back at him, and see he's looking at us. The man turns around, and I see his neck and his arms are all covered in bite marks. I immediately feel sorry for him; he's been snatched from his life, compelled to do as they say, and been used as a human blood bag. Is that what's left for me, if Kyle doesn't return? No, surely not. Eric wouldn't allow it. I smile, huddling closer to Eric. He feels me, and responds by grabbing me closer and tightening his grip around me.
"Are you hungry?" he whispers; "I'm sure there's some human food around, unless he's finished it." He gets up immediately, moving towards a small area that has the appearance of a run-down kitchen. He looks inside empty cupboards and I watch him as he finds nothing.
He looks back around me and suddenly he's beside me again. He gives me an apologetic smile.
"I'm not hungry." I say as I shake my head at him. His blood seems to have nourished me as well as have cured me.
"You look pale, and weak. My blood wasn't enough, trust me," he frowns, worried that I am unwell. He gets up but I grab him by the hand again, so that he doesn't leave my side.
"Your blood was… perfect," I say, knowing that wasn't the right word to use. "It's cured me. I am not hungry yet. I am pale normally, and weak…" I smile at him.
"I'm sure you're not weak, not if you take down vampires for a living," he speaks, not letting any emotions come through his face. I guess this thought saddens him, the fact that I kill others like him.
I look away from him, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation. The others continue to converse, and the poor human continues to stroll with no purpose around the room. I get up from the sofa, and as Eric's hands stall my movement, I signal my plan to speak to him.
I move towards the young boy, probably no older than me. He looks me wary, his tired eyes sulking and as I offer him my arm, he crouches backwards towards the wall. This saddens me, that he is alone and cannot trust anyone, not even me.
"Hey," I say, falling to the floor beside him. "I'm human too. I'll get you out of here, I promise."
I look up at Eric who is watching me carefully from across the room. He is no longer stretched over the sofa but sat uprightly as if ready to jolt at any moment. The boy doesn't respond, probably because he knows Eric and the others will overhear him, but this doesn't stop me.
"My name's Ronnie," I begin again. "What's yours?"
The boy starts shaking, but after stutters and pauses he manages to speak. "Carter."
His voice is quiet and croaky and his mouth is dry. Sweat builds up on his forehead as he continues to shake. His once-upon-a-time white shirt is deeply covered with red stains around his neck and as I move towards it to unveil the wound beneath he flinches.
"I'm sorry Carter," I say, but I know that there is something wrong. "Please, I can help you."
"No. They'll kill me. They'll feed from me."
"Carter, let me take a look at it," I continue to plead. I stare back up at Eric and he's moved again. He's sat, leaning towards us from the sofa, hardly sat down. The rest of the room has also paused and looks intently at me, observing my every move.
I return my thoughts to Carter and I am relieved when he doesn't resist my touch. I unveil the collar of his shirt, but what sits beneath strikes me in every way. The wound, unlike mine which has healed thanks to Eric's blood is thriving black against his skin. Infected, no scab has formed. Instead, the wound looks new even though the youngest it can be is a day old.
Tears start forming in my eyes as I stare at the pain he must be going through. The only reason why my pain didn't last was because Eric was there with me to feed me his blood, but it is obvious that no one has helped him with his wound. I get up, and suddenly, Eric's arms are beside me. I flinch with anger, knowing he had something to do with this, but I also feel fear, because whatever he may feel for me, I will always be vulnerable... a vulnerable human, just like Carter.
"Don't touch me Eric!" I shout as I bend down to help Carter up. "I am going to clean his wound, and when my father comes for me, I will take him with me."
Eric doesn't put up a fight, and I fail to look him in the eye, not wanting to cry in front of me. This however has shocked me. The Eric I know, or seem to have gotten to know is nothing like the real Eric who feasts on weak humans with Isaac and the others. How did I come to think he was good?
"Carter, can you walk?" I say as I let my hand go from around him to wipe away tears that fall from my eyes. My voice trembles, but still I stay strong for Carter and move towards the area where Eric had been minutes ago looking for food. I pull a stool over to let him sit down, whilst I reach for the tap behind him. It is obvious this is a wreck of a place as only drops fall from the tap.
I do what I can and begin by brushing my fingers through the wound, cleaning up the area around it. I stop as he flinches and I let him adjust to the trickling water on his neck.
"Eric, have you got any cloth?" I mutter bluntly. He eyes me warily but after loosely scanning the room, he shakes his head. Not accepting to live with than answer I yank my sweater off, leaving me with a lose white top I had worn under my sweater. I try tearing the sweater apart, but even my motivation to save Carter's life isn't strong enough. My tears continue trickling down my cheeks as my attempts fail.
Suddenly, Eric is beside me and he's taken my sweater off my hands and is ripping it to shreds himself. He hands me some bits and then holds my waist. Though I know Carter is eyeing me warily I can't stop myself but to sink into Eric's chest. I sob, not caring about the others in the room. Instead, all I say is, "How could you have done this to him?"
"I'm sorry," he says and I can feel the sorrow in his voice again.
"Is this all we mean to you?" I shift and return to caring for Carter. I soak the cloth with the water that drops out of the tap and then apply it to the wound.
"Ronnie."
"I'm out of your life the minute my father comes, and he's coming with me."
His eyes enlarge as my meaningful words stab him. His expression changes and suddenly his voice is pleading with me.
"Ronnie, you can't leave. I meant it, when I said you were important I need you." His voice is no longer quiet, afraid of what the others may hear but instead it is loud and in need of soothing.
I look away from him once more, not letting him defeat me. I don't belong with him, especially if this is what he's accustomed to doing. Out of the corner of my eye however I see him bite into his flesh again, and as his blood begins to pour out, he collects much of it in a cup.
He hands it to me. "Feed him this. He'll heal."
"Eric... are you sure?"
He simply nods and before I know it, Carter's wound is closing up as he gulps down Eric's blood.
I smile up at Eric, even though my smile doesn't reach my eyes. He takes me in his arms and then he's caressing and kissing me everywhere. He kisses my lips, a kiss that pleads with me as much as his next words. "Please, don't leave me. I can be different. This is me being different," he says as he nods behind us at Carter who continues to gulp down blood. I nod at Eric, simply thanking him for saving his life.
"Come, Carter. Rest on the sofa - you can sleep. I'll wake you when it's time to go home," I say. I watch him as he shuffles slowly towards the sofa and lies down, taking in deep breaths as he holds my eyes in his. I smile warmly at him and then he falls into a deep sleep.
"Eric." Isaac's voice startles me. I'd forgotten they'd all been watching in on us. "You can't let him escape like that. We need him for day-"
"Isaac," Eric's firm voice interrupts. "We'll be leaving this town soon. I will erase his knowledge of us and then he'll be free to go with Ronnie's family."
As before, Eric's word is lethal and none of the vampires try to contradict it. I smile once again, and mutter a whispered "Thanks."
Hours go by and all I do is seem to change my position. Sometimes I stare at the door, hoping my father will burst in. Other times I blankly stare at Carter, watching him breathe loudly. Unfortunately, most of the time I am compelled to spend my time with Eric. This is unfortunate as every time I wish I could forget all the good within him, I just end up witnessing it more.
It's four in the morning when I give up on rescue and I admit Kyle has failed me. I know the reason why, and as I try to explain it to Eric, the others become restless.
"It means my father hasn't arrived yet. Kyle trusted you and he won't come until my father arrives. That'll be an extra two hunters, so numbers will be more or less equal." Five versus four. I hope it doesn't turn into a fight.
"It's gone half three. Sunrise will be upon us two hours. We can't stay up, Ronnie."
"I know. My father won't come for me during the day. Kyle would have told them about Carter anyway."
"Are you sure?" I can't believe it when Eric mutters those three words. He's fully trusting me. He's putting his life, and the life of the other four in my hands.
"Yes, I -"
"Are you serious Eric? You're trusting her, over us?" Sienna barks.
"How do you know she's not being playing you all along?" Jeremy speaks for the first time. "She's here to kill us. She's infiltrated our coven from inside. Taken over our leader. She's corrupted you." His last words are poison and my heart breaks. I grip Eric's hand to reassure him.
"I am trusting Ronnie. If I trust her, so will you."
Before the others have a chance to response, Carter begins coughing from the sofa and I am immediately by his side. His eyes blink slowly as he wakes up from his short sleep and I realize that he must be hungry, just the way I am.
"Eric, can I speak to you?" I mutter, and he is suddenly behind me. I stand up and pull him along behind me towards the furthest point of the room.
"I'm hungry and since I'm going to spend another possible day here, I'm going to need food. I know a store in town that is open all night and if we leave now, we'll be back before sunrise. Also, we can take Carter with us and leave him there. I can call Kyle from a payphone and give him directions from where to pick Carter up from. His wound may be better but he still needs treatment."
Eric pauses as he listens. "We can tell Kyle not to come during the day. That'll reassure the others," he says as he looks over to the four vampires that continue their gossip.
I nod in agreement with Eric, and suddenly, his hand is on mine. "Carter, we're taking you home," he says.
"Ronnie, I don't have a car and I can't carry you both so we'll have to do with a small shop a few minutes away from here. I'm sure Kyle will find it anyway."
I nod as that's the least of my worries. I grab Carter by the waist as he puts most of his weight on me. Having him so close to me makes me see how beautiful he actually is. His short blonde hair falls loosely above his eyes that are bright green. His features are also warm as his short stubble caresses his firm jawline. I smile at him and make my way out the door, knowing Eric is behind me.
Once I'm out I hear Eric addressing the others. "I'll be back in less than an hour. Whatever happens don't attack, don't leave and don't feed."
I feel him beside me outside the door but he moves forward so that he's in front of me, leading me away into the night. It's chilly and it's a matter of seconds before he sees - or hears - me shivering. He takes his jacket off and hands it over to me and as a result takes Carter from me. I hold Carter's left hand, who turns to me and gives me a fearful look.
"Thank you," he says to me and smiles, even though I know that his closeness to Eric scares him. I smile back to him.
"Thanks for trusting me Eric," I say, and he turns to smile at me. He doesn't reply, and something tells me that Carter being between us makes him uncomfortable.
We walk like this, quietly for what seems like ten minutes but then we're greeted with neon flashing lights informing us the small cottage in front of us is 'Open.' I sit Carter on the stairs and move immediately to Eric's side. He grabs my hand and begins to speak slowly but quietly.
"Go inside. There's a payphone. Call Kyle and tell him I'm erasing Carter's memory. Tell him to come for you at midnight tomorrow. I'll join you inside in a minute."
I pause momentarily and hug Carter as I say, "I'm sorry." Then, I run up the stairs, pausing only to see Eric kneeling by Carter and beginning to speak to him. I wipe away tears of joy as I know Carter will return to his old life with no memory of this past.
A pale man greets me across the room, but I solely smile at him and then move quickly towards the payphone. "You can call, and then I'll charge your minutes," the man quickly informs me from across the room. Good. I remember I have no money on me. Eric will help me deal with the man later.
I type in the eleven-digit number to ring Kyle's home and someone picks up on the second ring.
"Kyle?" I say.
"Ronnie, Ronnie is that you?" He says and his voice picks up. "Oh my God, are you okay Ronnie? Where are you?"
"I haven't got much time. Listen, I'm at a store called Jones'. It's only around a mile or so after the vampire nest. Here we're leaving a human, the one that was at the nest yesterday. His name is Carter and they're letting him go. I've done my best to heal him but he needs medical treatment. Help him. Come for me tomorrow at midnight."
"Wait, Ronnie. Is he there?"
"Yes, Kyle. His name is Eric. I'm fine. I'm safe. They won't hurt me."
"Is he there now?"
I'm about to answer no, but then Eric arrives beside me. He's wearing a black pair of Ray Bans to cover up his red eyes, and his beauty causes me to stutter. "Yes."
"Okay. Are you sure you're safe? It's just that your father hasn't arrived yet. I couldn't risk all our lives. I trusted him, somehow."
"Ronnie is safe with me," Eric says as he quickly yanks the phone from my ear. "Come tomorrow at midnight. I'm willing to negotiate." He hangs up immediately, not allowing me to even say goodbye to him. I try not to let this affect me as I know he's only trying to protect me. When he looks down at me I simply smile at him and walk past him to the food section.
Eric stays back behind me as he glances around the shop. I grab a couple of things: a large bottle of water, a pack of strawberries and a box of cereal bars. I think that's enough for the rest of the time I'll be with him and so I turn back to him.
Eric's expression startles me as his nose wrinkles up. His senses are without a doubt picking up something mine can't, and his immediate move towards me gives me the impression that whatever it is it's serious.
"A woman's been killed back there," he nods towards an area of clothing. I try my best to look out for a body but I see nothing. "I can smell her. This isn't an ordinary killing though."
"You think it's a vampire?" I whisper so that only he can hear me. The man across the room watches us, a tight smile on his face. He nods, but when his eyesight follows mine I realize the answer's been there all along.
Eric runs across the room and before I can blink he's holding the shop assistant by his neck on the wall. The shop has in a matter of seconds been destroyed. I run towards Eric, ignoring the mess that has been made and witness the shop assistant's fangs descend under attack.
"Who sent you?" Eric screams at him. The man doesn't answer and Eric hauls him across the room. Eric pauses by me and lifts the collar of his jacket over my neck. "Don't let him see your neck," he says.
I do as he says, though I don't understand why. Eric has picked the weaker vampire from the floor again and is torturing him with the same question. "Who sent you? Who are you working for?"
The pale man just chuckles, his long black hair now covered with sweat. He continues chuckling, and only meaningless words escape from his lips. "An old friend of yours," he chuckles.
Eric lets go off him, sure of the little information he'll get from him. "You clean this whole mess up, and tell my 'friend' to come talk to me himself" he shouts as the vampire struggles to get back on to his knees.
"Come on," Eric grabs my hand and we move towards the door, ignoring it when it beeps informing the store we've not paid. Carter is sat outside, still waiting for Kyle.
"Eric, wait. Let me say goodbye to him," I whisper up at Eric who is about to walk past him. He looks down at Carter, who is drawing on the ground with a stick.
"Hey, are you okay? You seem to have lost a lot of blood," I say to him.
"Naa, I just fell over. It's fine - my friend Kyle's on his way. I'll just have it checked," he says. He blinks up at me and smiles warmly.
He's completely forgotten about me and in a way, I am happy that all the suffering he's gone under has been wiped.
"Well," I say, looking for another excuse to talk to him. "Here, would you like a chocolate bar?" I offer. "It's early in the morning and you look hungry."
Carter doesn't think about it twice and I hand him one of the chocolate bars. "Thanks!"
"No problem. You look after yourself. It was nice meeting you..." I say.
"Carter. Carter Jakewell."
"Ronnie," I say and I give him my hand.
I turn away from him and nestle by Eric who puts his arm around me. I smile at him and he whispers, "Did I mention you looked good in my jacket?"
We step up the pace back to the nest and though Eric seems to be fine with what just happened back there, I can't keep myself from questioning everything.
"Who's this 'friend'?" I say.
"I don't know, but I'm afraid that whoever it is is interested in you." He pauses and embraces me in his arms. "If they take you from me... I wouldn't be able to live with myself." He says.
"Is that why you told me to cover up my neck?" I ask. This time he doesn't respond and I know I am right. "Eric, I'm not stupid. I know it has something to do with my mark. You changed, like literally changed when you touched it. Are you going to tell me what it is?" I ask and he simply nods.
"Later."